


12 Days of Winter Whumperland

by Icechild



Series: Scream [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Blackmail, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Needs A Hug, Exhaustion, F/M, Hallucinations, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Hurt Anakin Skywalker, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, No editing we die like mne, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Other, Possession, Protective CT-7567 | Rex, Protective Obi-Wan Kenobi, Torture, Whump, Winter Whumperland 2020, poisoned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:13:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icechild/pseuds/Icechild
Summary: Chapter 1-Used as DecorationChapter 2-ExhaustionChapter 3-Escape in the SnowChapter 4-Given as a giftChapter 5-Winter Spirit AttackChapter 6-BrandingChapter 7-HallucinationsChapter 8-BlackmailChapter 9-Running out of TimeChapter 10-PoisonedChapter 11-Falling through IceChapter 12-Holiday Angst
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker & Clone Troopers, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Scream [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2117820
Comments: 5
Kudos: 82





	1. Deck The Halls

**Author's Note:**

> So, for every one of these chapters it will be one year apart on Fete Week, AKA Star Wars winter holiday like Christmas and New Years together. We start our lovely journey with a 13 year old Anakin and a struggling, panicked, single Jedi father Obi-wan

Obi-wan swore for the millionth time in this year of a day. It was bad enough when there was a normal kidnapping. It was worse when the kidnap victim was your 13 year old padawan. They’d been separated on their most recent mission to engage with the inhabitants of a newfound world. 

Normally the exploration corp would be handling something like this but their attempts had been met with resistance from the natives. So instead they called in Obi-wan and Anakin to attempt to settle the situation and assure that there was no harmful intent. That the planet had simply just been recently discovered by the rest of the galaxy and they were curious to learn about them and their customs. They had discovered the planet right at the height of their winter festival, when their suns lined with their planet so specifically that it made the planet light in a way it didn’t at any other time. Or at least, that’s what they were told. 

Instead now the new planet found a Jedi searching desperately around a palace of hostiles for his missing student. Anakin had been on his best behavior for the duration of the trip, safe to say he was just refraining from sassing anyone. The little one was still learning that it was alright to speak up to people but hadn’t yet learned when it was appropriate to speak out and when it was better to hold his tongue. Obi-wan had felt a pang of guilt when he was telling Anakin to be mindful of his behavior simply because he saw the expression on his face. He knew his padawan struggled with his past, and he was loath to bring any mention that Anakin may not be fully free but he needed to teach. And if he did his job well then his apprentice would know there was a difference between minding behavior and words and being a slave. 

There was no backup. It was just the two of them. And if Obi-wan didn’t find his student soon he was beginning to fear that he may not find him in any proper state again. The Force was tinged with worry and panic and at this point Obi-wan honestly couldn’t tell if it was his or Anakin’s. The bond was still thrumming, he knew his padawan was alive. He just didn’t know where he was. Anakin felt muted after a while and had ceased responding to any of the mental probes Obi-wan sent his way. It was as if there was a wall cutting the two of them off from one another. Obi-wan could feel his thoughts running. _Someone must have put an inhibitor collar on him._

The anger that pooled in his stomach at the thought surprised even him. He was very accustomed to being one of the model Jedi in the temple and yet the thought of his padawan collared like some pet tempted him to use just a little more force when he knocked out the next guards he found. There was something bloody and dark tinged there but he could not afford the focus to dwell on it. He had to find Anakin. Had to protect him. 

The mission hadn’t meant to go this way. It hadn’t meant for them to be in this situation, but of course they were. And despite all of the chaos surrounding him as Obi-wan neared the heavy doors to the gathering hall, he couldn’t tell where or when it all went wrong. 

The force was feeling tight, sharpening as he neared the doors. He hesitated for just a moment, trying to figure out the meaning, to breathe the way his master had taught him all those years ago. But then he felt Anakin’s presence flicker behind the wall blocking them. And that was more than enough to have him quickly opening the door with all the reckless abandon of one who was yet to be knighted. His saber held tightly in hand and all the preparation in the galaxy could not have prevented the gasp that stole his lungs at what awaited him inside.

Large tables sat around the room, their long benches filled with people celebrating cheerily. The head of the room, a table facing the others, filled with the leaders of the civilization they were sent to investigate. They were all laughing, celebrating, cheering. All around the center of the room that Obi-wan could not will his eyes away from. There, in the middle of everything hung Anakin. An inhibitor collar tightly latched around his throat, arms pulled above his head hanging by, _Force_ , barbed wire wound tightly around his wrists. His padawan’s feet hung a foot away from the ground. His head was hanging low, the braid swaying slightly in the drafty room. Anakin’s dark robes hid it but Obi-wan knew blood was being soaked into the sleeves. He could see the gashes from the wire already, see the red that was trickling down before his sleeves could hide it all. 

People slowly one by one began to notice his presence. It wasn’t all that surprising. Saber illuminating the area around him and the fury that was welling up inside him so pungently. He had sworn an oath to protect his padawan at all costs. He had promised his dying master that he would train him and now he found his boy like this? Strung up like some grotesque decoration for them to just use and tuck away into storage until the next winter festival. Force sake he was only 13. He was just a boy. A boy who’d been through far too much already and who didn’t deserve any of this. No. He would not allow it. He would die before he allowed Anakin to suffer a fate like this. Wrapped in a cage that every movement would cause him pain. He would never allow it. 

Dimly Obi-wan knew what it meant. He realized why there was so much rage and sorrow and pain at the thought of losing Anakin. He was attached. 

The thought felt like acid even as the guards charged and attacked him. He had little regard for them at this point. Blocking blaster fire and disabling his foes at every opening until he made his way to the center of the room. Anakin had yet to respond to any of it. The sounds of the fight, the smell of the blaster fire and blood. He’d not so much as flinched the entire time Obi-wan was in the room. 

He brandished his saber protectively once again. Not one of them was going to touch his boy again. Not a single one of them. It struck Obi-wan then that he had begun to refer to Anakin as his in his mind. The implications of that were not lost on him but another glance to his padawan’s still form hanging behind him was enough for him to shove it away. He could ponder the complicated realizations later, when there was time, for now he needed to get him safe. He needed to honor his promise to Anakin that he would protect him. 

“Surrender now or I promise you you will not like the results.”

It was not a very Jedi thing to say but he saw the fear in the leader’s eyes when they tried to comm for more guards and none came. The civilians were watching the entire interaction with great interest and yet none of them saw anything wrong with having a child strung up and bleeding as a centerpiece. It wasn’t a very Jedi thing to feel satisfaction at it either but they did not know enough about Jedi to know that and he would have time to meditate on it later. When Anakin was safe. There was only a slight hesitation before the group nodded. 

“Take him.”

Obi-wan wasted no time. He used the force to snap the wire above Anakin’s wrist. Catching him as his body fell limp into his arms. As much as Obi-wan wanted to check him over now he was anxious to get him away from the people that had hurt him so. He left his saber in his hand even as he cradled his small padawan into his arms. Anakin’s head rested on his shoulder and the small puffs of air against his throat giving him enough reassurance to move. 

It was foolish, really, the whole situation. He should not have acted the way he had but seeing his boy. His padawan that he had sworn to protect and raise. The one that he saw as a son rather than the brother he would turn into when he could knight him. All of it made something in him twist and growl against it all. While part of him wanted to say it was the attachment another part of him thought it was something else. That the attachment was safe because despite the rage he’d felt at the sight of him hanging and bloody. When he thought of Anakin he thought of nothing but light.

Anakin whimpered weakly as he made his way outside. No one dared to stop him. Whether that was out of fear from the saber hilt or the threat his expression held he couldn’t tell but he shushed his child gently. He didn’t care what could have possibly happened that made the natives do what they did. Nothing entailed stringing a child up by barbed wire. Nothing. 

When he finally was able to get them back to the ship he laid Anakin out gently on the cot in the middle. He needed to get them away from this Force forsaken planet and back to Coruscant where Anakin could receive treatment. He was halfway out the doorway when he heard the whimper. Turning quick he saw blue eyes watching him. It broke Obi-wan’s heart even more when he saw the tears welling there. Immediately he was back at his padawan’s side, lightly brushing his hair away from his forehead. 

“Master..”

Anakin’s voice rasped when he spoke. It was like he’d screamed and tore something there, the collar tight around his neck likely wasn’t helping. He wanted to remove it when he knew Anakin was safely away from the planet. Where they would be safe to treat the bruises and possible scrapes that were almost certainly there. 

“I’m right here Anakin. It’s alright. You’re safe now.”

Anakin nodded shakily but attempted to look to the collar. When his eyes once again locked with Obi-wan’s he saw the look of a child desperate for safety. He understood. He knew what a collar would mean to Anakin and he didn’t have the heart to make him suffer it any longer. He was gentle as he worked, carefully undoing the mechanism and helping to shield Anakin from the Force so it came back to him slowly instead of a rush. He was familiar enough with this kind of situation to know that it could be incredibly disorienting to have it slam back like a tidal wave. 

While he was cleaning the wounds caused by the infernal device he caught sight of Anakin’s eyes beginning to close. He knew his padawan was exhausted, could feel it now freely through their bond. The wounds on his wrist still needed tending but it was worth the wait from the smile Anakin had now that the collar was removed. 

“Sleep Ani. I’ll be right here.”

The boy nodded to him and closed his eyes. Obi-wan watched him breathe for a few moments. Thinking again of the way that he’d felt when he saw his apprentice used as a decoration for the sadistic pleasure of others. Again of the way that he’d fallen like a rag-doll into his arms after he snapped the rope.

This wasn’t the end. Not by a long shot, but he would always catch him when he fell. And they’d be alright. 


	2. Up On The Housetop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our darling Anakin is 14 now.

His saber deflected bolt after bolt in the training room. Rarely even giving Anakin the chance to adjust his footing or his grip, hardly time to breathe before the next shot was being fired. He couldn’t be mad about it, it was by his own command after all. He twisted around in a circle to dodge and deflect the next set of bolts that came flying at him. He knew the training setting he had the probe on was meant for Masters but he wanted to prove himself. No. He  _ needed  _ to prove himself. He needed to know that he could do it, that he wasn’t what the other padawan’s said he was. 

Anakin had always been an outsider at the temple. Master Obi-wan had given him a book with all the knowledge in it telling him it was passed from Master to Padawan and would teach him about the Jedi. The book had comforted him at times, taught him of the world that he was now a part of. He’d even written his own comments into its pages but all the same there was one line that always stuck out to him. 

_ You must never feel like an outsider. _

Anakin tried. Really, he did. He tried to be good, he tried to follow the rules, he tried desperately not to feel like an outsider. But his time as a slave on Tatooine taught him how to always be watching for someone to watch you. To always pay attention to the looks and remarks that may be made towards you. Sometimes those looks and comments could mean the difference between life and death and so Anakin had learned. He had learned by nine years old how to tell when someone was watching him. He’d learned to read the sour expressions on peoples faces. 

The other padawan’s here at the temple were no different really. He could read them just as well as he could the people on Tatooine. He could see their dislike of him clear as day. The looks they gave him when he entered the classrooms. The whispers he would catch as he walked alongside his Master. He heard and saw all of it. Since the moment he first came to the temple he was asked all sorts of questions about his past. Obi-wan had explained it to him that they were unfamiliar and were just curious, that they didn’t mean to cause any harm. He accepted that. Telling them that he was a slave that Master Qui-gon had rescued from a sandy planet in the outer rim. At first it was fine. 

Then the rumors started. The others began to shun him because he was different. He had been nine and was already a Padawan. The rest of them needed to wait until they were 13 or 14 to have a chance to be chosen. And even then the word got out that Obi-wan had threatened the council in order to get him. Several of them went from merely being curious to being outright harsh with him. 

The training probe in front of him let out another flurry of bolts forcing Anakin to twist his grip around to deflect them all. He’d been training for hours. He’d told Obi-wan that he wanted to go to the archives and then the gardens to explore. The excuse had worked well enough, as it had all the other times this week. Or the one before that. He just changed the location that he wanted to explore. The temple was vast and even though he’d been a padawan for five years now he and Obi-wan both knew it hadn’t lost its novelty to him. He settled into the new rhythm the probe was keeping and once again let his mind wander away from him. 

It was Fete Week this week. A week of holiday celebrations for the last week of the standard year. While many families all across Coruscant and the rest of the Republic were celebrating together and giving gifts the Jedi temple had another way to mark the end of the year and beginning of the new one. The days leading up to the last the Jedi had a tournament for all Initiates, Padawans, Knights, and Masters. They were split into categories of course, they would not pit an Initiate against a fully trained Master. But within their own categories they were all allowed to battle in friendly competition. 

The final day of the week when the rest of the Republic all closed down to gather around brightly colored lights and exchange their gifts and tell stories the Jedi would spend in quiet meditation. It was a way for them all to release the past and center themselves in the Force for the coming future. It was the one day a year that the temple was almost completely silent. Paying their respects one final time to all those who had been lost during the year and looking to the Force for the light that guided each one of them. 

Anakin always found the final day boring. No matter how many times Obi-wan lectured him on its importance he was never very fond of sitting and meditating. It was boring. He needed to move, needed to breathe, to feel the blood running through his veins. Moving meditations allowed him to focus better, to release his emotions easier than he wou;d if he were stuck sitting perfectly still in the room of a thousand fountains. 

The sweat was pouring down his eyes now but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Instead he grit his teeth and spun his way over to the control panel. Without taking his eyes off the probe in front of him and never lowering his guard he blindly typed the code to release a second probe into the room. If any Master or Knight came in and saw what he was doing they would be very upset. They would likely call Obi-wan and that was something he could not allow. 

He cared about his Master and trusted him with his life but he did not want Obi-wan to see this or hear of it. If he did then he would ask him why he was training himself so hard. Their training sessions were already brutal but this was taking things to a whole other level. But he needed to know. He needed to prove to himself that he could do it. That he was meant to be a Jedi. The words of the other Padawans haunted him day and night and he knew he should be letting them go but there was an echo of truth in them. A seed of doubt that he knew stemmed from when the Council had refused to train him all those years ago. He didn’t miss their looks either. The way they watched him like he would break at any given second. Anakin never missed any of the looks or any of the comments.

“Once a slave, always a slave.”

“He doesn’t deserve to be here.”

“He is not one of us.”

“Will never be a Jedi.”

“Worthless.”

“Not good enough for Master Kenobi.”

“Why is he here?”

So he trained. He trained and he trained and he trained and he didn’t care how long it took he was going to prove to everyone that he deserved to be here. He wasn’t found like the rest of them were but he was found nonetheless. Qui-gon had believed in him. He’d told him he believed him to be the Chosen One. At the time he hadn’t known what that meant but he’d read about it in the book that Obi-wan gave him. Qui-gon thought he was worth it, so did Obi-wan. Obi-wan was always there for him. Sure they had rough patches here and there where they would argue or fuss over something but it never went any further than the topic at hand. And things were always remedied before they went to bed. Anakin was never a fan of meditating but he did enjoy meditating with his Master. He liked to feel Obi-wan’s light. Liked to feel his presence. He was the only one in the temple that made him feel like he belonged.

So this year. This tournament. He was going to prove to the other Padawans, the Knights, the Masters. Everyone. He would prove that he deserved to be there. That Obi-wan wasn’t stuck with a lousy Padawan just because of a promise to his Master. He would show them that he had worth. That he could stand with them. That he was a Jedi.

The probes kept firing, and Anakin kept deflecting and dodging. The spins and twists were getting more and more intricate. He had to keep up somehow. Through it all he could feel the way his robes were sticking to his skin. How his hair was soaking wet and the feeling of sweat dripping down his back. The feel of his braid slapping into his shoulder after a complicated flip gave him another thing to focus on. He would prove himself worthy of this. The Force sang around him at the thought. Easing his tired muscles and allowing him to move faster. This form of mediation would always be his favorite. He could play with the Force here. Not use it as a toy but to twist and turn, dance with it, feel it tease him and ease him in ways it didn’t any other time. His training gave him focus. A focus he would need to utilize come the following days. 

He was so focused on the training that he didn’t notice the hours slipping by. So lost in his mediation that he didn’t notice the doors opening. He didn’t even register the other presence in the room or hear the sharpness in his Master’s tone until the training probes fell to the floor, lights dark as their power cut. 

“Anakin! What in the blazes are you doing? You told me you were going to study and explore not kill yourself in a training module.”

He kept talking but Anakin realized slowly that he couldn’t hear him. He couldn’t even hear the thrum of his saber. Standing still now he felt the way his legs were shaking. The rushing of his blood in his veins swamping out any other feeling. Suddenly there wasn’t enough air in the room. He couldn’t seem to get his breathing to even out and he looked to his Master again. Obi-wan knew. Obi-wan knew and he was upset. Just as Anakin knew he would be. This wasn’t supposed to happen. His panic was climbing fast and it only grew faster when he realized Obi-wan looked blurry. 

Obi-wan had paced their quarters for an hour after Anakin was supposed to be back. When he couldn’t find him he set out to look for him. The issue was that he had never stopped in the archives. The Master’s worry had grown more and more as he headed to search for his wayward padawan only to sense his bright presence in one of the training rooms. He’d found Anakin with the settings that would have given Master Windu a run or his money and not only was there just one probe, there were two. He shook himself out of his awe enough to scold his Padawan for overworking. Anakin was going to hurt himself if he didn’t learn to take breaks. He was about to be more upset when he noticed his Padawan not paying attention but then he saw the pallor of his skin, saw the way his chest was heaving and his legs shaking. Obi-wan moved forward quickly to catch him as he collapsed. His energy leaving him like strings to a puppet being snapped. Obi-wan sighed. He had a feeling he knew where all of this had come from. 

“What am I going to do with you Padawan? You are perfect as you are.”


	3. Baby It's Cold Outside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A precious 15 year old Ani this chapter.

Sometimes Anakin wondered if Obi-wan would ever punish him in an extreme way. Most of the time he knew that wasn’t true. That his Master would stick to just lecturing him and giving him stern looks or reprimanding pokes through their bond. But now? With the snow storming around him and climbing over his limbs he was beginning to wonder. The comm clutched in his hand was silent. As it had been since the last transmission between him and his master. 

Anakin huffed for what seemed to be the millionth time in the last day. Snow planets were never something he was fond of. And while he hated sand planets even more he was still from a warm planet and his skin missed the heat from the twin suns he’d grown up with. Being away from Tatooine for six years still didn’t change that. 

He trusted Obi-wan. He did. He trusted him to not be angry enough to just abandon him out here in the snow but part of him still worried. Part of him wondered if maybe this was a punishment for his recent behavior. A punishment for ruining the mission, even if it was to save his master’s life. 

They were on yet another diplomatic mission. One that once again hadn’t stayed that way. They had been discussing relations with the Republic when Anakin had felt the surge of dark intentions from the people in front of them. He’d noticed the blaster before his Master did and without thinking about it he’d put himself between Obi-wan and their attacker. He’d thrown himself at the man holding the blaster and tackled him down. The room exploded into chaos after that. Yelling and shouting and more blasters being drawn. Obi-wan had drawn his saber up and Anakin had moved to follow suit when he felt the surge of pain lancing down his arm and through his chest. Just under his left clavicle he could see the burn mark from the blaster. He’d been shot. But he wasn’t about to leave his Master in a time of need. Even though Obi-wan was yelling at him for his foolish actions.

He hadn’t seen the blaster then. He also hadn’t seen him get shot. Not that Anakin could blame him; he didn’t see himself get shot either. 

They fought in tandem backwards out of the room. More and more guards were swarming up to them. The dignitaries and royals left behind in the room but Anakin could see the one grinning at him. It was a sadistic kind of smile. The one that a predator wore when they knew they’d won. Anakin glanced at a window and saw the reflection of more guards coming up the elaborate staircase below them. Without really thinking about it he force pushed a decorative dresser down the stairs. 

“What a holiday mission Master!”

It was his part in this team to smile in the chaos. To grin and laugh and bring his master light and humor when he was so focused on the refined peace aspects. But Obi-wan hadn’t seen the reflection. He hadn’t felt the presence of the other guards being too caught up in deflecting blaster bolts from his side of their now enemies. Anakin’s comment was met with harshness. Walls up strong as durasteel on their bond. Anakin nearly couldn’t sense him which meant that Obi-wan was mad. Very, very mad. And he was mad at Anakin. 

“Get out of here you’re only making things worse!”

“Master?”

“Leave Anakin! I will meet you at the ship and lecture you then.”

Anakin had run. Done as he was told for once to not risk Obi-wan being even more upset with him and he bolted out the palace gates into the blizzard. Guards had followed him chasing and Anakin did his best to deflect the bolts but his arm and chest were throbbing now. He slipped once. Another bolt slamming into him just under his ribs. He choked on air for a moment before swinging his saber up, swallowing down the rising nausea and blocking the remaining bolts. The moment he saw his opening he’d shoved his aggressors back with the force pushing up a wave of snowy powder in his wake. He’d ran. Just as Obi-wan had told him. 

He just didn't make it to the ship. He tried. He did his best to follow the order. His mind spinning with the thoughts of Obi-wan’s anger fully directed at him and his old insecurities reared their ugly heads once again.  _ Failure of a Padawan. Can’t even follow simple directions.  _

He shook his head. It was just the cold. Just the cold invading his thoughts. Obi-wan wouldn’t leave him out here no matter how angry he was. His Master’s anger was something to watch but no matter what he would never abandon him. Not like this. His chest was screaming in pain, his middle too. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to move. His fingers and toes started to feel like pins and needles but he still held to the comm in his hand. Part of him wanted to reach out. To comm Obi-wan and tell him he needed help. But another part of him worried that he would distract him like that. One single distraction was all it would take for a blaster bolt to slip by and kill his Master. And that just simply wasn’t allowed. 

Anakin had never had a father but when he thought of what one should be he thought of Obi-wan. He was warm and light and caring. No one would ever beat Obi-wan when it came to gentleness or kindness. He’d heard stories, on Tatooine, of how Jedi were kind and compassionate beings who could do things no one else could. When he met Qui-gon and Obi-wan it had been easy to see but then he’d met the Council. Then he met the rest of the temple. And his hopes of that being the Jedi way were gone. Jedi were cold, detached, uncaring and unloving. But Obi-wan wasn’t. Qui-gon hadn’t been. So maybe there was still a chance. 

A beeping was what pulled him away from his thoughts. Slowly he dragged his eyes open and then realized he hadn’t ever remembered closing them. After that he noticed the snow covering up towards his wounds now, the snow around it turning red. It was an odd thing, to see blood freezing in the snow like this. Normally blaster wounds would cauterize the wound as it went in but his movements must have ripped open the burned flesh. Obi-wan’s stern voice filled his ears, drawing his attention back to the present. 

“Anakin so help me I told you to go to the ship. Where are you.”

It came out as a demand for information rather than a question. The kind of tone they would use for their aggressive negotiations. He smiled at the thought of his own joke. It wasn’t so bad out here anymore. The cold was more of a background now that his body had adjusted. He wasn’t even shivering anymore.

“Anakin answer me dammit.”

He wanted to answer. He didn’t like the edge in Obi-wan’s voice. He was angry, yes, upset, but there was something else. Something that he couldn’t figure out.

“Padawan this is not the time for your games. We need to leave. Now. You have attacked a member of the nobility here. Jedi are no longer welcome. Now  _ answer _ me Anakin.”

There was still that thing in his voice. He was scolding him. That was certain. But there was something there. Worry? No. Obi-wan wouldn’t be worried about him right now. He was mad. Anakin still couldn’t feel him through the bond. Jerkily he got his fingers to respond to him and press the button. His voice cracking on the way out. It was harder to move his mouth than he thought it should be. It was harder to do a lot of things than he thought it should be. 

“Master.”

“Anakin. Where are you. I told you to meet me at the ship. If you disregarded that order I will-”

“I-I tried Master…”

He couldn’t stop it. It was foolish but he couldn’t stop the tears from welling in his eyes. He’d failed as a Padawan. He didn’t listen.  _ Why did he never listen?  _ And now Obi-wan was going to take him back. Give him to someone else. If anyone else would even want him. A sob threatened to choke its way out of him but he forced it back. The pressure in his chest made him want to scream but instead he just ended up gagging and coughing. Something wet filled his mouth and throat and threatened to choke him then and there. When he finally managed to suck in a breath again he saw the snow beneath him stained with a clotted red. 

“- _ Anakin!” _

He hadn’t even heard his Master calling his name. He really did never listen. His body felt numb by this point. The only things still registering were the pain from his wounds but even those were fading out. He couldn’t feel the comm clutched in his hand or the snow piling atop his collapsed form. He was tired. 

“Anakin I need you to talk to me. Do you know where you are?”

There was that thing again. The thing in his voice that Anakin couldn’t place. It sounded like worry, concern, maybe even fear. But why would Obi-wan be scared? Anakin had messed up. This was just his punishment. 

“Tried...I tried to listen this time master….”

He could hear running on the other end of the comm. Felt the durasteel mental walls slide away and there was color. There was warmth and light and Anakin felt safe. Obi-wan would always mean he was safe. 

“I’m coming. Just hold on. I’ll be there soon, stay with me Padawan.”

Anakin wanted to respond, he just couldn’t find the strength to do it. His eyes were hard enough to keep open. The snow kept coming down but he kept listening. Kept basking in the light and warmth that was Obi-wan’s presence as he felt him coming closer. He realized what a sight he would be. Half buried in the snow that was stained by his blood. Maybe this would be enough punishment for him. He closed his eyes for what felt like a second only to be shaken awake by firm but gentle hands on his uninjured shoulder and face.

“Anakin. Anakin please can you hear me?”

He couldn’t get his mouth to open. His body wasn’t responding to him but he saw the flicker of something in Obi-wan’s eyes when he looked at him.

“What happened?”

Anakin swallowed thickly, there was more blood there, he tried to clear it but just ended up gagging on it. Obi-wan gathered him smoothly into his arms but Anakin couldn’t feel it. He just gathered his strength and whispered.

“They were going to shoot you.”

Suddenly it clicked for Obi-wan what all had happened.

“You saved me by jumping in the way. And you were shot in the act. And I didn’t notice.”

There was more in his voice there. An anger directed at himself but Anakin couldn’t respond. His eyes flickered their way shut. He heard Obi-wan’s distress when he squeezed him close and called his name but he couldn’t get his eyes to open again. There was the note in his voice. That thing like worry. That fear. 

He’d only heard it a few times but the times he did he was always in some sort of dangerous situation. It just didn’t make sense. Obi-wan was the perfect Jedi. People told him it all the time. That his Master deserved someone better for a Padawan. He’d read it in the book Obi-wan had given him that these things were forbidden to the Jedi. So if Obi-wan was the perfect Jedi then he couldn’t really care about him. Could he? 

He remembered writing his own note in the pages of that book. Ten years old writing the message in the margins for all the padawans after him to read.  _ “I miss people outside the temple and would do anything to protect them. Does that make me a bad person?”  _ At the time he had been meaning his mother and Padme. Still never forgetting either of them no matter how much the Masters at the temple might encourage him to. His Master told him to embrace his past. And his Master was the only one he wanted to listen to. Obi-wan would protect him. Especially if Anakin was right about what he was hearing. He wasn’t ashamed to admit to himself that he was attached to Obi-wan. He just never thought it would be returned. Maybe they could talk about it after this. 

Right now he was exhausted. He was even starting to feel warm. Part of him said that was a bad thing. That he should be fighting that feeling. That instead he should be feeling cold. He couldn’t remember why however. He wasn’t sure why he was being held the way he was. He didn’t understand why Obi-wan felt as panicked as he did. He just wanted to sleep. Surely that couldn’t be a bad thing. He was safe. Obi-wan wouldn’t let anything happen to him. 

Obi-wan was here, he’d be alright. And later when he was warm and recovering in the halls of healing he would wonder if he’d imagined the soft kiss on the top of his head as he fell asleep in his master’s arms. 


	4. All I Want For Christmas Is You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A sweet precious 16 year old Anakin who needs all the hugs in the world.  
> TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER PLEASE REVIEW THE ARCHIVE WARNINGS ABOVE!

_ If he felt any horror,  _ the woman thought,  _ he was marvelous at hiding it.  _ She watched as her guards pulled once again on the chains that held her prisoner in place. Forcing him to move forward. The bonds around his wrists kept her prize from using the abilities she knew he possessed. It wasn’t a difficult task really to have him captured. All they’d needed to do was fake a distress call in the middle of nowhere. Set the trap for the Jedi to fall into and then wait for them to spring it. 

While she had expected to have two fully grown specimens to deal with she had found one adult and one still growing. Both of them were handsome regardless. Both would fetch her a good price assuming they kept docile for the customers. The slaving ring she had spent years of her life building was proud to be selling its first Jedi. Customers had already come rolling in for them. Her initial plan had been to sell the two as a pair. It was no secret that a Master and Padawan would carry a great amount of pride to an Owner. To end a Jedi line was something that not many could hold. 

One woman had offered her millions for the Padawan alone. She said she hadn’t cared for the Master that she would pay more for the Padawan on his own. So now here they were. Gold chains wrapping around his throat connecting to the cuffs binding his wrists and sorcery. A chain linking those to the shackles around his ankles. He would not run. The shimmer of the chains identified his work, something her customer had told her before the purchase. They paid for quality afterall. 

The boy moved forward like this was something that he was well practiced in. While it was uncommon it was not unheard of for Jedi to be captured. At the very least captured long enough that someone was able to chain them. Yet he appeared to know exactly what to do. No outward reactions of any sort, just a kind of steel in his eye and neutrality everywhere else. She hummed in the back of her throat while she watched the transfer playing out ahead of her. 

The only hesitations he had yet to show were only surfacing now as he tried to resist moving forward to his fate. It was almost like he’d expected his Master to save him by now. The thought only made her smile. If her partner was doing their job then the Master was being sold and transferred on the other side of the complex as this was taking place. She watched the guards give another pull before handing off the chains to the personal guards of her customer. No one was fool enough to purchase a Jedi without some level of protection. While the Jedi said they were peacekeepers there were people out there who could do very dangerous things. Including the revered mind trick the Jedi liked to use so often. 

She nodded once to her customer. The smile on her face clear to see for everyone and for the first time in the entire time she’d had him in her custody, her captured prize looked her in the eye. The emotions caught her off guard. She had expected terror. Had expected the Padawan to break into sobs but instead all she saw was rage. Rage and anger and something else. A tint of protectiveness maybe? For his Master? It was interesting. Curious. There was another tug at his chains this time pulling him by his neck and his wall flickered. Finally she saw it. The fear that he’d been trying so desperately to hide from her. And suddenly she felt her respect for him fall. He was weak like the rest. 

Anakin didn’t know where they were. The moment they’d left the complex a bag had been shoved over his head and he’d been forced into a speeder. Fear had threatened to overwhelm him when he was separated from Obi-wan. It was bad enough to be cut off from the Force, its guiding light suddenly missing and leaving him alone in the dark. But he’d been in this situation before. He knew how to act, what to do. And maybe Obi-wan would be able to get out and save him before it was too late. The council would realize something was wrong when they never reported in, right? They’d know something happened and send someone to look for them. It’d be alright. He had to have faith.

So even when the speeder stopped and he was pulled by his chains into some building he did his best to hide what he was feeling. Too many times on Tatooine he’d been beaten for showing anything that might be considered weak. He had to do better. Had to hide it or things would be worse. He just had to keep breathing. Keep it even. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about how they’ll probably put an implant in him again, or how the Jedi were meant to protect him but now he was just property again. 

Ice cold hands touched his arms, his neck, his chest. Anakin had to suppress a shiver at the touch. He still couldn’t see. He just had to keep breathing. Obi-wan would get out. He’d find him. Someone would find him. As if reading his thoughts the bag was ripped away from his head. For a moment he almost couldn’t see, the lights in the room too bright. Before he could even take in his surroundings he was being shoved backwards onto something soft. It took him one second to realize he’d been pushed onto a bed. Anakin wasn’t stupid, he knew there was only one reason a Slave Master would push a slave onto a bed. 

Appearances be damned he couldn’t stop the panic rushing through him. He felt paralyzed, even if he didn’t he was still in chains and the end was stuck in her hand. He couldn’t feel her intent but he could see it. He saw the lust there, saw everything that she wanted to do and it made him ill. His lungs were refusing to expand. Ice cold hands began undressing him. She was speaking to him but he didn’t hear it. And then her lips were on his. Her hands were running up and down his chest. Anakin couldn’t help the tears that slid through his closed lids. He didn’t want to see this, didn’t want this. 

“St-” He nearly choked on the word. “Stop..”

“You are my property. I can do with you as I please.”

Her voice was heavily accented when she whispered the damning words into his ear. Her hands trailing to his pants. Obi-wan wasn’t going to find him in time. It was going to be too late. With his eyes wrenched shut Anakin started thinking about what he could do. It wasn’t the Jedi way to give into your fear. And even if there was nothing he could do physically he could attempt to escape mentally. 

“You will call me Master from now on. I own you.”

The thought made him want to gag. He needed to escape. So he thought of someone that always made him happy. He thought of Padme. He thought of her smile, her gentleness. He thought of her comfort that he’d given him all those years ago. He wanted to see her again. Wanted her to know how much she meant to him. He imagined it was her touching him. That the hands were warm and gentle instead of cold and rough. He imagined it was her kissing him, sweet and tender instead of needing and hungry. Despite it all the tears kept coming. 

And then the door was being blasted in. Clear off its hinges and flinging across the room. The noise startled the woman enough to have her sit up still in her straddled position over him. Anakin hadn’t opened his eyes, merely flinched at the change but the silence that rang through the room after made him open them. He almost didn’t believe it. Obi-wan stood, saber hilt in hand, anger bathed across his features. His chains were gone. He’d escaped. And he’d found him. He found him in time. 

“Release him.  _ Now _ .”

“Or what Jedi? He is mine, I paid for him. You have no right to it now.”

Anakin barely comprehended what was happening around him. His mind was racing and none of it was directed at the current situation. He was stuck in the what ifs. Stuck feeling her cold hands on his skin. He didn’t even hear the sound of Obi-wan’s saber igniting or see the shift of his stance. 

“ _ He  _ is not yours. Nor will he ever be. Let him go or I promise you will not like what happens next.

“I thought peace was the way of the Jedi. You must negotiate. Perhaps if you bought him off me?”

“I believe we are far beyond negotiation.”

The threat in his voice was clear. If the rage on his face hadn’t given it away then his tone certainly did. 

“You cannot kill me. All life is precious to the Jedi.”

Her voice held an air of pride in it. Like she was proud of herself and what she’d done. Like she thought she’d backed him into a corner and he would just leave his apprentice where he lay. It made something dark simmer in his heart and nearly twist a growl out of his lungs. His expression hardened and he made no move to cover the anger in his voice when he spoke.

“All life may be precious but you have put your hands on my Padawan. You have wrapped a child in chains and if you think for one moment that I will not kill you to defend him then you are sorely mistaken. All life is precious but that does not mean I will not take it to save him.”

He spared another glance to Anakin. Laid prone on the bed with the chains bruising into his body. He was shaking, whether it was from the cold or the trauma Obi-wan wasn’t sure but he did know he was getting his Padawan out of here. With or without killing this woman was up to her. 

She seemed to consider him for a moment, leaning back in her position atop of Anakin’s tremoring form. Her hands glided once again over his skin and Obi-wan saw the way his shallow breathing hitched at the touch. The anger flared once again, but then the Force warned him urgently and before he knew it he was moving. His saber plunging through her heart leaving the blaster in her hand to clatter to the ground off the side of the bed. He’d killed when he could have preserved but the thought didn’t really seem to bother him. 

All he cared about now was getting Anakin back and safe. His own bruises and actions could wait. He carefully undid the chains from around his Padawan’s body, being sure not to touch him just yet. But the moment the Force nullifying cuffs were off and Anakin felt his presence his Padawan was reaching for him. Obi-wan took it for what it was. Wrapping Anakin in his cloak and pulling him securely into his arms. He was sure neither of them ever wanted to see this room again. 

Their ship felt too small and yet too empty all at the same time. Anakin had buried himself into Obi-wan’s robes the moment he could and had not let go since. He’d done his best to ignore his apprentice’s sniffles since then. Ignored the way the cloth above his shoulder was wet with tears all for the sake of allowing Anakin to process in some semblance of privacy. As much as he could have while being carried back to the closest safety they would get outside the Jedi Temple. 

Obi-wan didn’t want to put him down. He knew logically that Anakin probably could have walked himself back to the ship but he had wanted to carry him. It was a way to reassure himself that his Padawan was alright. A way to know that he was still breathing and safe. Even as he forced himself to gently set Anakin down onto one of the cots forcing himself to let go but not forcing himself away when Anakin’s hand buried tighter into his tabards. 

“Obi-wan…” 

His eyes looked made of glass when he looked up to his master. The scene just broke Obi-wan’s heart for him even more. It wasn’t lost on him that he hadn’t called him Master. But after the ordeal that they’d just gone through he didn’t blame him in the slightest. In all honesty he probably would have been concerned had he just slipped back into the title again. Anakin was much too young to have to deal with any of this. 

He didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to comfort him in his time of need. There wasn’t training for this. For the hundredth time since taking Anakin as his Padawan Obi-wan wished Qui-gon was there. He would know what to do. Instead he steadied himself and pushed assurance and love through the bond. He watched Anakin accept the feelings, watched the tears brim over and spill down his cheeks and finally the sobs came. Immediately Obi-wan reached out and held him close. Anakin wasn’t going to go through this alone. 

“You found me…”

That hadn’t been what he was expecting. He was expecting fear of being a slave again. He had expected trauma from what that vile woman had been attempting to do. He’d been expecting to have to hold the darkness away from staining his bright padawan but instead the fear seemed to be melting away on its own. Obi-wan didn’t know what he had done to give Anakin the impression that he would ever leave him in a situation like that. Or that he would ever stop looking. But he would work towards fixing that. He loved Anakin, even if he couldn’t muster the courage to say it outright. He settled for what he could force his heart to confess.

“I will always find you dear one. You will never be alone. Not as long as I’m here.”


	5. Got Run Over By A Reindeer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really the Force needs to give 17 year old Ani a break. He doesn't deserve this.

The holidays were never going to be easy on them were they? Fete Week was beginning to take on a cursed feeling whenever he thought about it. Every year something seemed to happen and Anakin always seemed to be at the center of it. This year was no exception. Obi-wan glanced over to his seventeen year old Padawan chained to the pole on his left. Anakin caught his eyes and smiled at him, the little devil was still as snarky as ever. Even in their present situation. Obi-wan prodded the bond, sending his commentary along it to his young apprentice. 

_ “You shouldn’t be laughing about this Padawan.” _

_ “No. I shouldn’t. But it’s a little funny Master.” _

__ Anakin’s mirth stretched across the bond to him. He had to be honest it was a little ironic how much Fete Week seemed to line up with something terrible happening to them. 

Obi-wan was about to respond when a man came out into the area in front of them. He was dressed in rich robes, draping over each other with embroidered symbols and emblems. A group of similarly dressed people came following from behind him. They could only assume this was the cult they had been sent to investigate. A large slab was wheeled out into the room along with a small altar that the leader placed a hefty book onto. 

_ “That doesn’t look good.” _

_ “No it does not. See if you can break the chains again.” _

For once they were captured without Force nullifying equipment but the chains that held them to the poles wouldn’t seem to break under their focus. There was an air of warning flitting between the two of them even as Anakin tested the bonds again like he was told. Before either one of them had the time to come up with a plan the leader of the cultists was speaking. Looking them both over but his eyes lingering on Anakin for far longer than Obi-wan was comfortable with.

“For years we have waited for this opportunity. For years we have waited for the arrival of our savior. And now the time is upon us!”

Anakin and Obi-wan shared a nervous glance. Neither one of them liked where this seemed to be headed. The leader continued.

“Our Winter God finally has a body to sustain him long enough here. We can finally be free.”

As the man spoke his eyes had landed back on Anakin. It was more than enough to make Anakin shift uncomfortably and have Obi-wan tug on his chains even more. He wanted them out of there as fast as possible if he was right about what the man was implying. He was not about to let his Padawan be a ‘vessel’ in some ritual. Even if a strict belief in the Force told him that such a thing as a possession wasn’t possible and that there were no true deities he had seen more than enough in his time as a Padawan and now Knight to know that some things he just couldn’t explain. He didn’t want his Padawan to fall into one of those things. 

“Master-”

“It’ll be alright.”

He hoped to anyone that would listen that he hadn’t just lied to him. Both of them struggled against their bonds when the leader gave a silent order to the followers. A set of them came up to Anakin, reaching for his chains and pulling him down. Instinctively he tried to fight back against them. It was working too until one of the cultists cuffed him over the head. Their efforts earned them a harsh shout from the leader. On one hand Obi-wan was glad that Anakin would not be very much physically hurt by this encounter. On the other hand he didn’t like the implications of a random cult being so concerned with his Padawan’s physical state. 

He was forced to watch helplessly as they dragged Anakin over to the slab they’d wheeled in earlier and began strapping him to it. Obi-wan focused his attention on the leader while Anakin got his wits about him again. 

“You would be wise to release us now.”   
The cult leader turned to look at him. He’d expected maybe anger or annoyance to play on his expression at being interrupted. He wasn’t expecting the smile that bloomed.

“We cannot do that. But we do thank you, Master Jedi. You have brought us our savior’s body and for that we are eternally grateful.”

Pushing away the bit of nausea that rose at the thought of him leading Anakin into a trap that would make him nothing more than a meat puppet he decided to get some information. 

“What exactly do you need saved from? Perhaps we can help you if you let us go.”

“You will not be able to break the curse. Only the Winter God can save us.”

“Would something like this not work better if everyone involved was wanting it?”

He was trying to appeal to the man’s warped sense of logic. Unfortunately it failed. The look of disdain on the man’s face as he moved over to the book was strong. Anakin was now firmly strapped in. They locked eyes again, this time Anakin reaching into the bond.

_ “What do I do?” _

_ “Fight whatever they try to do to you. I will get you out of here. I promise.” _

He was breaking a lesson taught to him at a young age, and one that he’d taught to Anakin. Never make a promise that can’t be kept. Yet he felt the Force shift at his declaration and it was more than worth it to see Anakin nod to him. He knew the rule, if Obi-wan said he promised to get him out then he would get him out. 

The cult leader cleared his throat, about to begin the ritual ignoring Obi-wan’s growingly frantic attempts to escape. With one look spared over to his captive audience.

“Your apprentice will be in a better place after this. Should you wish to say goodbye now is the time.”

“The only thing I will be saying goodbye to is this planet after my Padawan and I leave it together.”

A quizzical look flashed across the man’s face.

“Are you sure? He will not be able to hear you after the Savior takes him. He will give his body to the Winter God.”

Anakin’s panic flitted across the bond for just a moment before he shut it behind a thin shield. He was trying to put up a brave face for Obi-wan. He shouldn’t have to. The urge to get his Padawan to safety came up even stronger than it had before.

“Not willingly! He was forced here does your God not want someone willing?”

The cult leader seemed to think for just a moment. His expression falling into one of a peacekeeper doing what was best for the world. Even though the thought of that made him want to gag.

“Sacrifices must be made to bring salvation.”

Without anything else the ritual started. The words being chanted by the cult and spoke by the leader were completely unfamiliar to them both. Perhaps if there was a protocol droid with them they would have been able to understand but as it was it just gave them an ominous feel. Anakin looked to Obi-wan again, this time the panic in his eyes completely bare. 

_ “Master, whatever happens. I’m sorry.” _

He felt like there was a gaping hole in the middle of his body. Anakin was apologizing? For something that wasn’t even his fault. Something he had no control over. He didn’t even get the chance to respond. As soon as Obi-wan had processed the words his apprentice sent to him the world around them exploded in light. The chanting still there like some horrid background music to the screeching that was filling the room. When Obi-wan pried his eyes open again he saw a glowing being hovering in the air between Anakin and the cult leader. Snow was swirling around it, as well as what looked like ice particles. He couldn’t make out any features on it but he could tell its back was to him. Instead it was facing Anakin. Anakin, whose face was contorted in pain and was pulling hard against his new bonds. The way his jaw was clenching and unclenching showed Obi-wan just how much pain he was in. 

But then the creature was reaching towards Anakin. His back arched off the slab pulling tight against each of the bonds and a silent scream pulling from him as the creature’s limb touched his head. Pain shot through the bond, raw, unfiltered. It was so much that it took Obi-wan a moment to realize that it was from the bond itself and not Anakin. It was pulling, tight, claustrophobic, the pressure building up until it felt almost unbearable. Like the bond was being crushed by a mountain. Obi-wan knew what it meant. This  _ thing  _ was trying to break their bond. 

That simply wasn’t allowed. He was trying desperately to come up with a plan to get them out of there. The chants were burning into his skull like acid, Anakin’s screams were no longer silent. And then his presence began to shift. Anakin had always been an incredibly bright presence in the Force. Something akin to a sun or a supernova. He was bright, his colors bathed in red and orange and white light. But now it was shifting. The supernova burning from its standard warmth to cold. His colors seemed to dip into hues of blue rather than red. Like the flame that was his Padawan was being frozen over by this being. 

Obi-wan screamed. The Force lashing out with him and slamming every one of the cultists against the far wall. He was not about to lose his Padawan while trapped to do nothing. He was not about to lose Anakin the same way he lost Qui-gon. It wasn’t going to happen. He would die before it happened. 

The creature turned to face him. It was nothing but a blur of snow, ice, and what felt like raw power. Anakin dropped limp against the slab the moment he lost contact from the being. But Obi-wan had to pay attention to what was in front of him. He could worry and fret over Anakin after the being the cult summoned was dealt with. It lashed out for him but one quick dodge and switch had the creature slicing the chain instead of his body. 

He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t fight this thing, he’d have to get to the book, figure out a way to banish it back to where it came. He was about to make a run for the large text when the creature screeched in agony and writhed in the air. It only took a moment for what was happening to seep in. He turned his head to look at Anakin, still strapped onto the slab but now awake and staring directly at the so-called God that was summoned. The only evidence of the strain he was under was the thin trickle of blood coming from his nose. His eyes looked different, the wrong shade of blue, a lighter shade. He didn’t know what had been done to his student but he needed this to end so he could find out. The creature screeched again, struggling against the phantom grip Anakin had it locked in and then, in a burst of color and light much like when it had entered the room, it was gone. The room felt darker without it, the sounds of its screech still echoing in his ears. Obi-wan allowed one moment to breathe and then raced to the slab. 

Anakin’s eyes had closed once again but the bond didn’t feel so strained anymore. It was still pulsing in pain but Anakin’s presence was his once again. His color seemed a bit mottled but not like it was before. The Force cooed around them both as he pulled the bonds away from his Padawan’s wrists and ankles. Now that he had access to them he was able to remove his own chains as well. Anakin slid forward off the slab, Obi-wan only catching him just in time. He carefully lowered him to the ground taking a moment to assess him as he did. Anakin’s skin was cold, he was pale too, his breathing seemed strained but his pulse was steady. 

“Anakin?”

Slowly blue eyes cracked open at him and a small smile graced his student’s lips.

“Knew you’d save me…”

There was a certain sadness to Obi-wan’s voice when he spoke. He’d failed. He hadn’t saved anyone.

“It was you who saved me dear one. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

He held him for a few moments longer before shifting slightly. Adjusting Anakin as he went.

“Are you sure you’re alright? A cult just tried to have you possessed by some sort of creature, it’s okay to not be alright Ani.”

Anakin opened the bond again. His colors fully back to normal and affection and trust flooded the bond. Along with honesty.

_ “I’m alright.” _

Outloud he showed the humor he was feeling.

“You worry too much old man.” He hesitated just a moment, eyes flickering back to the cultists still laying against the wall. “Can we get out of here? I don’t want to be here when they wake up.”

Of course Obi-wan understood. He wasn’t fond of his Padawan being anywhere near religious cults anytime soon. Everything people might say about the Jedi set aside, naturally.

“Do you think you can walk? I can carry you if you can’t.”

“Master I’m almost the same height as you.”

Both of them laughed for the joke. And somehow, despite all the chaos they seemed to face every year, Obi-wan knew they’d be alright. They’d make it. Nothing would break them apart. Not even the dark side itself. 


	6. Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My poor sweet baby. Our finale for the day leaves Anakin at 18 years old.

Weeks of torture made it hard to keep the brave face and yet somehow Anakin managed to do it. Even the guards watching over their cell seemed to be a little taken aback by Anakin’s stubbornness when it came to their current situation. Obi-wan moved himself across the cell as much as he could with the chains binding his wrists and got to his padawan’s side. The cuts and bruises were prominent even in the low lighting of their cell. A fact that was not lost on Obi-wan. He saw every cut, every scratch, every lash mark of a whip and every burn of electricity. Every drop of blood his padawan spilled was for him. And Obi-wan would not soon forget that. 

Anakin had allowed himself to lay there and breathe for a moment and while Obi-wan knew he would see it as a weakness to himself; he would rather his boy lay there and breathe than the darker alternative. 

“Anakin?”

He was hesitant to ask, but he needed to know his padawan’s condition. 

“‘M here Master..”

Blue eyes flickered open to meet his and not for the first time Obi-wan was struck again by the light Anakin carried there. They’d been captured two weeks ago now. The sad part was that Obi-wan didn’t even know who had them. They’d been ambushed on their mission right in the middle of Anakin telling Obi-wan how excited he was to see Coruscant's Fete Week celebrations this year. They had always seemed to be pulled away on missions or something going wrong but this year it appeared they would be back to enjoy the festivities. The next thing either of them knew they were waking up chained to opposite sides of a cell. 

A voice had come over the speakers in the cell. Taunted them for a while about their helpless situation. Told them how simple it was to capture the duo and take away their talents by strapping the Force nullifying collars around their throats. Both of them hated it, but then again, that was the point. After a while of the same nonsense the voice asked them,  _ “Who deserves to live?”  _ Of course, they both immediately said the other. Neither one of them was foolish enough to miss the threat lingering there. Anakin just happened to be more fierce in his declaration. His protective streak dictating his actions once again while Obi-wan had chosen the moderate way of the Jedi. 

Every day since then masked, faceless, guards would enter the cell and drag Anakin away. They would keep him for hours at a time and then bring him back. Through it all Obi-wan had failed to find a way to escape. The pain of that striking deeper every time the guards brought his student back looking more and more worse for wear. 

“How are you feeling?”

Anakin said nothing for a moment, taking stock of himself instead before he smiled up at his Master with humor glinting in his eyes.

“Like this is a horrible Fete Week gift.”

Obi-wan wanted to shake his head at the eighteen year old’s antics but he couldn’t bring himself to do more than chuckle. How Anakin had managed to maintain his sense of humor through all this was beyond him but he wasn’t complaining. If Anakin was making jokes then that meant that on some level he was alright. It gave him a semblance of relief. There was one session each day and that was it. Something about not wanting to break them any faster than they had to. Anakin would be able to rest and regain his strength until the next day when they would drag him off again. 

Obi-wan would do anything to trade places with him. It was the Master’s job to protect their Padawan at any and all costs. Anakin being beaten in order to protect him was never supposed to happen. He watched his apprentice push himself up to sit against the cold stone of the wall. Anakin was taller now, his frame filling out with muscle, he was much different from the scared nine year old he used to be. But that didn’t change the fact that he was Obi-wan’s little boy. 

“You’re doing it again.”

Anakin’s words lurched him abruptly from his thoughts.

“Doing what?”

“Overthinking this. It’s a Padawan’s job to protect their Masters too Obi-wan. We protect each other. That’s how this works.”

“You should not need to be beaten in order to protect me, young one.”

The affectionate title earned him a smile from his boy.

“No, not ideally. But we both know I would do it all again. I-”

But he didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence. Instead the cell door slammed open and the faceless guards were stepping in once again. Their hands gripping onto Anakin’s arms and hauling him up ignoring anything else. Obi-wan was on his feet the moment he saw the guards. They were taking Anakin again. This was wrong. But then he noticed something else. Something that made his stomach drop. 

The guards weren’t leaving. Was this it? Was this how it was going to end? In a dirty cell with the Council not knowing they were missing yet. Anakin met his eyes and even without the Force he could see the meaning in his eyes. Even now Anakin was trying to give him strength. Before Obi-wan could stop him his apprentice was grinning and tilting his head to look at one of the masks that hid the face of the guards holding him. 

“So, this gonna be a fun date? All four of us or do I get you two to myself?”

His humor earned him a swift hit to the middle. Not for the first time since their capture Obi-wan cursed the chains holding him away from his student. But he bit his tongue, only because he knew if he didn’t things could end up much worse for his sarcastic Padawan. The guards didn’t speak, they didn’t move. Just stood and held Anakin firmly in place between them. Obi-wan noted grimly that Anakin’s legs were shaking under his weight. If the guards ceased holding him he would likely collapse. It seemed he wasn’t as fine as he claimed to be. 

“Now, two weeks should be enough time yet we can’t get the apprentice to crack.”

The entrance of the new voice drew both of their attentions to the doorway. It was the same voice from the speaker on the first day. The same voice who had offered them the poisonous question that haunted Obi-wan’s nightmares for the last two weeks. The man stepped into the room giving a glance to Obi-wan and an appraising look to Anakin. Obi-wan looked to Anakin’s face again to try to gauge what he was thinking. He knew his student had a tendency to do things the reckless way and didn’t want to risk him being hurt any worse than he already was. Instead of finding any shred of fear all he saw on Anakin’s face was judgement.

“Really. You’re the one who’s ordered this? You aren’t nearly what I was expecting.”

The man merely regarded Anakin with the same appraising coldness he had when he first walked in.

“And what were you expecting?”

“Someone taller.”

The man hummed, turning to look at Obi-wan.

“And what do you have to say about all of this? He deemed your life to matter more.”

Obi-wan didn’t look but he knew Anakin was trying to urge him not to speak. He understood why. He understood that Anakin was trying to protect him and if he said anything it would have him beaten as well. They couldn’t very well escape if both of them were injured. But he didn’t want to see his Padawan endure anything more than he already had.

“I believe our time together is at an end.”

He had meant it that they would escape. To try to plant a seed of doubt in the Man’s mind about them being securely captured there. Instead the man just grinned at him. 

“Quite right. It is at an end. It is time for our final gift and then we will be on our way. I have always wondered if the Jedi would come for their own or if they would leave them to rot in a cell holding their broken children.”

Before he could ask what that meant the man was giving an order. Another guard stepped into the room but this time with a metal rod glowing red at the end. A brand. More specifically, a brand of the emblem of the Jedi. Neither he nor Anakin had enough time to protest before the man was taking the rod, pulling down the collar of Anakin’s robes and pressing the glowing metal into the flesh right above his heart. 

Anakin’s scream was something Obi-wan was sure he would never forget. The sound of it bouncing off the cell walls while he was held in place by faceless men. All the while his Master, the one who was supposed to keep him from harm, stood chained and unable to help mere feet away. The moment the man pulled the metal away Anakin sagged in the guard’s grip. His breathing strained and wheezing. Obi-wan didn’t pull his eyes away, instead did his best to examine the wound before the man released his robe and it partially hid it from his sight. Nothing would hide it from his other senses however, the stench of burned flesh filling the air like a toxin. 

“Enjoy Jedi. I hope you’re happy with your choice.”

Another hand signal and the guards were dropping Anakin onto the floor. All four of them stepped out and locked the door once more behind them. That was it then. Obi-wan moved as close as he was able given his constraints and gently tried to reach out for his boy. Anakin had curled in on himself trying to alleviate the pain in his chest to no avail. 

“Anakin?..”

He knew he wasn’t alright. Not by a long shot. The pain filled blues that met his were just extra confirmation. Instead of answering him verbally Anakin pushed himself to his hands and knees and shakily crawled into his arms. Obi-wan obliged. Anakin had done this for him, he would hold him and protect him until the council came to find them. They would find them. They’d be alright. Anakin would be alright. He brushed the hair back from his forehead and placed a kiss lightly to his Padawan’s head.

“I’ve got you. You’re alright. I’ve got you.”


	7. Sugar Plums Dancing In Their Head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!  
> Today we start with a 19 year old Ani who really needs a hug.

Anakin had never been fond of scoldings. He had never been a fan of them even if he wasn’t the one being scolded. He had watched other padawan and master pairs, seen the way the padawan shrunk down in the cold uncaring eyes of their masters and Anakin hated it. He was thankful that the Jedi pulled him out of his slave hell on Tatooine. He would always be thankful for that. He would never say anything against Qui-gon or his own master. He loved them and as much as it was forbidden he felt an attachment to them both. Or as much as one could be attached to one that was dead anyways when it came to Master Jinn. 

But there were times when he would argue with Obi-wan. Times where he would hide any mistakes he made in the fear of being scolded. He knew he shouldn’t. That it would be better for him to just face the music and learn from his mistakes. But there was something cold that always settled into his stomach at the thought of disappointing Obi-wan. He knew he wasn’t the best Padawan but he tried. Master Yoda would scold him for it.  _ “Do or do not, there is no try.”  _ But that never made any sense. How was he supposed to  _ do _ if he wasn’t supposed to  _ try.  _

Not that it mattered at the moment. Not with Obi-wan coming into the room with a glare that would rival Master Windu’s on his face. Not with the cold fury rolling through the room, all of it directed at him. He’d thought his Master would be happy to see him alright all things considered. Sure he was strapped down to a table in a cell that was who knows where but he was alright. He didn’t even remember anyone coming into the room. He was fine. But his Master looked furious, what made it worse was he looked furious at him.

“Must you do this every single year?”

The question caught him off guard. It wasn’t like he  _ meant  _ to get kidnapped every year on the holidays. He never walked around with a sign that said “Take me” 

“You are reckless, foolish, useless as a Padawan. I should  _ leave you here _ .”

The words were spoken so harshly, so strongly, that Anakin felt like a dagger had just cut through his body.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

No. No, this couldn’t be right. Obi-wan wouldn’t do this. This was wrong. Instead he felt his Master’s hand on his cheek but it was wrong. There wasn’t warmth there. There wasn’t gentleness or kindness in the touch. It was cold, wrong, mean. It wasn’t  _ Obi-wan.  _

“You are pathetic. I should never have made the promise to train you. Now I’m stuck with a worthless boy who can’t understand when to stop.”

“Master. Please, I can do better. I’ll do better. Just let me out I’ll-”

“No. I think you should stay there. Reflect on what you’ve done.”

“Wait! Don’t leave me!”

“You do not get to tell me what to do. You are the student.  _ I  _ am the Master. I thought a slave boy would understand to listen to his Master.”

This was wrong. This was all wrong. The force of holding back the sobs was beginning to choke him but he had to do better. Obi-wan was turning now. Leaving him. He was leaving him. He promised he wouldn’t leave him. 

“Master  _ please- _ ”

“Qui-gon should have left you in that Junk Shop. Maybe then he would still be alive.”

Anakin closed his eyes against the tears. He couldn’t stop it anymore. The sob tore through his throat at the same time he heard the cell door close. Obi-wan had left him. He abandoned him.  _ But he told you the truth.  _ Some traitorous voice was talking in his head. He didn’t want to listen but that final claim. That Qui-gon should have left him, those words felt like Obi-wan had driven his own saber through his heart. He tugged against the leather bonds that held him in place. The Force wasn’t coming to him now. He couldn’t grasp it, couldn’t reach for it. Almost like it had abandoned him there to die just like Obi-wan had. He didn’t have any other choice but to give up. 

He lost track of time after that. Laying on the table and sobbing until his throat was sore and he had no more tears left to give. He should have never left Tatooine. He had only caused pain. He ruined Obi-wan’s life, he ended Qui-gon’s. If it wasn’t for him then maybe Obi-wan would have gotten to be knighted by Qui-gon. Maybe he would have been able to enjoy being a knight on his own before he chose a Padawan. He wouldn’t have been stuck with a useless burden. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he heard the cell door open again. He didn’t even bother to look. If it was his captors coming to kill him Anakin was almost thinking about letting them. Obi-wan had left him. His home at the temple was gone. He didn’t have enough money to go to Tatooine and free his mom. He had failed everything he had set out to do. 

He listened to the heavy footfalls before a rhythmic breathing filled the room. Anakin didn’t pull his eyes away from the ceiling. He didn’t care if this person killed him or not. But something was nudging at him to look so after a bit of an internal debate he slowly looked to the man standing beside him. Black armor, black leather, a black armorweave cape hanging from his shoulders but the worst thing was the black death mask that encompased his head. It was only after another cycle of the respirator attached to the man’s chest that Anakin noticed the lightsaber hanging from his belt. The design looked like some perverse version of his own hilt that was Force knows where. 

If the man had a lightsaber then that had to mean something. Either it belonged ot him or he bought it off of somewhere. He tried to look through the Force, tried to sense the other man’s presence since he had yet to speak. The all consuming darkness he found nearly made him throw up. He knew the presence. He recognized the song the crystal on the man’s belt was singing. He knew, on some level, he knew. But it was  _ wrong.  _

“There's something.. Wrong, about you. I-I  _ know  _ you. Somehow. I-..”

This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be real. And yet the Force was telling him it was. This wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. He wouldn’t allow it. 

“This..this is some Sith trick! It has to be!”

He jerked in his bonds trying not for the first time to escape his captivity. But the man did not move. He watched him with no effort to help. Anakin could feel his eyes boring into his form, it was like he could read his mind. But if he was right, then maybe he could.

“Anakin Skywalker no longer exists.”

“No…” 

The darkness stood before him. All consuming like a black hole destroying everything in its path. Not a spark of light but somewhere. Buried in the center of it all. He recognized his own colors. He knew his crystal’s song, to hear it swathed in pain to make it bleed made him want to sob all the more. He just had no tears left to cry. If this  _ monster  _ standing there was truly him. Then he really had failed everyone. 

“No, no no  _ No!” _

“The Emperor will soon welcome you.”

But his decision was made. He needed to prove this was a mistake. That this couldn’t be real. 

“I will not give in to you. Ever!”

“You will not have a choice. The Jedi are dead. Do not die with them.”

He didn’t want this, he didn’t want any of this. He needed to get out but no one was coming to save him. His Master had left him. The Jedi never wanted him. He didn’t have a home. He was alone with this Monster saying it was him. He couldn’t even cry. So he screamed. 

Obi-wan raced through the compound with Quinlan right at his side. Five days ago Anakin had gone missing from the temple gardens. The council had said Anakin likely only snuck out again. That he must have done something and was hiding so that he wouldn’t get in trouble. They’d told him to just be patient and wait, that he would come back. But as a night of waiting turned into a day of waiting with still no sign of his wayward Padawan and the council still being of no help; Obi-wan turned to another source of help. 

Quinlan Vos had been his friend since they were in the creche. While many times they would argue or insult the other they both knew if they needed anything the other one would be right there to help them. Quin’s ability to track was just what Obi-wan needed in a time like this. And once he’d explained the situation to his friend Quinlan had agreed quickly. Their padawan’s had bonded and Vos had grown fond of Anakin.

“I’d want support finding my Padawan too. Besides, Aalya would kill me if I didn’t help you find Anakin.”

It had taken them days to find the right trail. Days to find which building they needed to get to. Days too long. They heard the screams from the moment they’d entered the building. Taking off running in the direction of the terrible sound. The moment they got to the cell neither of them wasted time, they cut through the lock freezing by what they saw inside. Anakin, strapped down to a table drenched in sweat screaming and pulling desperately against his restraints. There was an IV hanging next to him, nearly empty, the needle going into his arm at the crook of his elbow. He kept looking at one spot next to him. Like there was something there that only he could see. Obi-wan and Quin both ran forward, Quin pulling the needle gently out of his arm while Obi-wan attempted to calm him down. Anakin only cried out at the touch. He attempted to reach through the bond to try to gain his apprentice’s attention but all he felt was heat and pain. 

“Stay away from me.” His voice was hoarse, breaking under the strain of screaming for so long. For a moment Obi-wan thought he was talking to the invisible thing again but when he looked back he saw Anakin’s eyes had locked on his. Nothing but betrayal in his blues. 

“You  _ left _ me.”

Quinlan had injected the sedative before he could say anything else. They didn’t know what had happened but one thing was certain. Whoever had done this to his Padawan was going to pay. Dearly. Jedi Code be damned. Someone had broken into the Jedi temple, stolen a Padawan, and left them in constant torture for days. He didn’t know what exactly had happened. Didn’t know what Anakin had seen or what exactly he had been flooded with during his captivity. He just knew he wasn’t letting Anakin out of his sight for the next month. 

Quinlan was the one who broke him out of his thoughts. It always seemed to be either him or Anakin to do it when Obi-wan got this way. Seeing how Anakin wasn’t in the position to be doing it Quinlan stepped back into his old role. 

“Another Fete Week in the Halls huh?”

His comment earned him a glare. But it was appreciated all the same. He would find out what happened. Anakin was going to heal. And he would make sure that invisible thing that made him scream would never be near him again. He would never let Anakin’s fate fall to something like that. His words echoing in his mind even as he gently cradled him into his arms to make their way back to the temple. 

_ “You left me.” _

The pain, the betrayal. It was all something he knew he could never bear to see again. Obi-wan would die before he ever left Anakin screaming in pain. 


	8. Under The Mistletoe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anakin's 20s don't get the best start huh.

No words could truly do justice to the feelings crushing Anakin’s chest. He was furious, for one. Rage bubbling at the mere thought of the letter he’d received. It had taken a considerable amount of willpower to not crush the sheet of flimsiplast in his hand upon reading its cursed words. The other part of him was scared, terrified even. He didn’t know what to do. Nothing had really trained him for this kind of situation. He glared back at the vile envelope he’d received that morning. He read it again. He needed to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. He needed to make sure he wasn’t about to reveal anything that wasn’t already out. 

__ _ “Skywalker, _

__ __ _ I’m hoping this letter finds you well. I have found myself some information that I feel you will be very interested in. I have been watching out for my past lover recently, of course you know her, Senator Padme Amidala. My people have told me you have been making an unordinary amount of visits to her apartment. I even have a photograph attached here of the two of you in a lovers embrace. And while it pains me to see her lips locked with yours I will take advantage of my knowledge. You will bring me all of the Good Senator’s notes, I want to know what the Senate has been up to. Every detail of their intentions for my banking clan. I will see you soon Skywalker, that is if you have any hope of keeping your forbidden relationship secret. I’d hate to see what it would do to her. _

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ Rush Clovis” _

He looked at the picture again. He’d just gotten back planetside after weeks of being away on his campaign. He hadn’t even gone to the temple, just grabbed a speeder and run straight into the arms of his wife. He remembered her smile when he grabbed her and spun her around. Their kiss saying everything they needed to say after being away for so long. It was one of the largest downsides of having a secret marriage at the beginning of a war. They never got to see each other. 

And now all of it was being put in jeopardy by Clovis of all people. Anakin hadn’t liked the man from the moment he met him. He was slimier than a hutt and he’d told Padme as such too. But he needed to deal with this. He would never steal information from his wife but he could make it look like he was. Clovis had spies watching Padme too. He’d need to deal with that. It was going to be a tricky situation but he could get them out of it. 

Without any more hesitation Anakin got to the hanger and onto a speeder. From there it only took him a few minutes to reach his wife’s apartment. He ignored all the lights and decorations as he steered. The holiday spirit wasn’t really reaching him. Not with everything that was at stake. Even the sight of his beautiful Angel brightened his spirit. She hadn’t been expecting a visit from him but that didn’t mean she wasn’t excited to see him. Their time together was few and far between, they’d take whatever they could get. Her smile dimmed the moment she saw the look on his face but he kept moving like there was no problem. Sweeping her up into a hug and kissing her cheek gently. Luckily she understood and hugged him back, whispering into his ear.

“What’s happened?”

“We need to act like nothings wrong. We’re being watched. I need to show you something.”

He pulled away from her, faking a smile and taking her gently by the hands, leading her away from the living space and into the bedroom. Padme caught the meaning easily, moving forward to close the blinds. It was one of the many reasons why he loved her. She always understood everything perfectly. 

Once they were shut all the pretense left their bodies. The false smiles slipping away into her careful look of concern and his a blend of his mission and fear. He tugged the letter and photo from his robes and handed them over to her. Letting her read and take in all the information.

“When did you get this?”

“Just this morning. I got here as soon as I could after reading it.”

He clenched his fist at his side. Clovis was going to pay for using Padme like this. He didn’t care about the consequences for himself. He only cared about keeping Padme safe and happy. Nothing else mattered. 

“We can’t let him get the information but we can’t let our relationship get out.”

“I know. I could say I have the notes and arrange a meeting time? Erase all the evidence he has and make him pull back his spies?”

“He’d only get angry with you if you do that. He won’t listen to you but he might listen to me.”

That wasn’t an option Anakin was even willing to consider.

“No. Padme, no.”

“Ani I’m right. If you go alone it will only cause issues. I’m not saying I go alone either but if we both go together then things might be alright.”

“He’ll try to use you, last time you tried to work around him he tried to force you onto the bed!”

“And that’s why I will have my loving husband there to protect me. We can’t just do nothing. I can make you fake notes and you can make the meeting. Then I’ll arrive and distract him while you erase everything he has. After that I’ll tell him I know he has spies on me and want them gone. We pretend like I don’t know, that the notes are real, and go back to just being us.”

He huffed. She was right, he knew it, she knew it. But that didn’t mean he had to like it. The thought of Clovis putting his hands on her again, even breathing the same air as his angel made him want to bludgeon him with the hilt of his lightsaber. Padme’s hand on his face drew him away from the dark thoughts, back to the present, back to her.

“Do you trust me?”

He melted into her touch, turning his head to kiss her palm before resting against her.

“Always my love.”

Clovis wouldn’t know what hit him. 


	9. Advent Calendar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 21 years old and now we have Ahsoka on the scene!

12 hours. That was how much time was left before his former padawan would run out of air. There was always a risk of capture in a war like this. Obi-wan knew it, Anakin knew it, everyone did. But they had all assumed that if there was a capture that it would be from the Separatists. That they would capture one of the leading figures of the Republic and attempt to hold them to turn the tide of the war in their favor. 

Instead it was a group of bounty hunters who were responsible for this act. A group that hadn’t cared about the politics of any of it. That had simply wanted to watch the Jedi flounder at one of their own being captured. They only cared for the money that the Republic was willing to give up to have him back. The money that the Separatists were willing to pay to have the Republic’s hero in their grasp. 

Obi-wan, Ahsoka, Cody, and Rex hadn’t left the bridge Since the first hour. The plan had been to meet back on board the Negotiator after finishing each part of their mission. Anakin had sent Rex and the majority of his men with Ahsoka. Not because he didn’t trust her but because he was worried about her. For all he said before how he didn’t want a padawan he had taken her in rather quickly. Force help whoever breathed wrong in her direction now or a very protective Skywalker would be after them. 

It had taken them ten minutes of waiting to figure something had happened. Seconds after that before one of the men who had been with him to comm up and explain that while the mission had been completed a group of bounty hunters had blindsided them. That they’d taken the General. 

One hour after that transmission ended they received a coded message from said bounty hunters. A message that held a countdown timer and a note explaining that they’d secured their friend and leader in one of the most horrifying ways. Burying him alive somewhere under the planet's surface and that they would let him suffocate alone in his grave unless the highest bidder paid. 

No one spoke. The tension in the air thick enough to slice with a saber. Both Jedi present had attempted to reach through to bond but couldn’t get a response. Either he was unconscious or not focused enough to speak back to them. The council had been alerted of the situation quickly. From them the Senate. 

“-wan? Obi-wan? Can you hear me? Is this working?”

“Anakin?”

Everyone’s attention was on Kenobi’s commlink. A sigh of relief coming over the link.

“Finally. I got myself in a bit of a situation, Master.”

Obi-wan knew as well as any of them that the best thing to do in this situation was to keep Anakin calm. They needed him to conserve as much air as possible while also making sure he was awake. They needed to talk to him. Make sure he didn’t sleep else he may never wake up again.

“Yes, well, I suppose it is the holiday season.”

They could practically hear Anakin’s smile.

“Can’t break the tradition now can we? Years in the making.”

Obi-wan decided then that he needed to bring the conversation back to the matter at hand. Ignoring the issue was not the Jedi way, solving it was. 

“Do you know where you are?”

“No. They knocked me out and I woke up here. You might know more than me.”

No one jumped for the chance to tell Anakin what exactly had happened to him. Ahsoka and Obi-wan shared a look with each other before she responded. 

“They buried you Master. They’re planning to suffocate you unless the highest bidder pays up. Republic and Separatist.”

He was silent on the other end of the line. Cody and Rex glancing nervously to the timer counting down the minutes of air he had left to breathe. 

“Has anyone said anything?”

Obi-wan interjected again this time. Having just received the update from Master Koon.

“The Senate is discussing as we speak. Which reminds me, how exactly did you manage to get your comm through? The bounty hunters said they broke it.”

“I built a protocol droid at nine years old out of scrap I managed to sneak away on a hell scape sand planet and you think I don’t know how to fix my own commlink?”

The sass in Anakin’s voice brought a smile to all of their faces. Obi-wan’s the most.

“Quite right. You should conserve your air. Keep the line open though I want to be able to check on you.”

“Sure thing old man.”

Not one of them missed the slight breathiness in his words. 

12 hours turned into 10, 10 into 5, 5 into 3. Anakin had started coughing involuntarily from the pressure against his lungs. The air quality was lowering fast, his time was running out. At 2 hours he would pass out and likely never wake. Already Anakin had told them he was struggling to move his body. Obi-wan’s check ins had moved from every 15 minutes to every five. From five to every few seconds. And then they received some of the worst news they possibly could have. Master Koons image filled the holotable with a regretful look.

“The Senate has reached their decision. They will not pay the ransom. They said it would set an example for other bounty hunters to capture Republic leaders and set the view of a weak system. I am truly sorry.”

Anakin still managed to huff out a laugh.

“Figures.”

“Anakin-”

“I’m gonna try to boost the signal-”

A set of coughs ripped through him before he could finish his statement. It took him a few moments to regain his breath enough to speak. 

“The signal from my comm. Maybe you guys can track it.” Cody and Rex instantly were scanning radios over, trying to search for any kind of new signal tie coming from the planet. “You there Snips?”

“Right here Skyguy.”

“Whatever..happens.” He had to pause for breath between words. “I want you to know I’m proud.”

“Stop. You’re not saying goodbye. You don’t get to say it over a call that’s not fair.”

Anakin’s chuckle was weak and strained but it was there. 

“I know it’s not fair, but I can’t do anything else really.” Another round of coughs tore its way out of his body leaving him gasping and straining for the air around him. “O-Obi-wan?..”

“I’m here Anakin.”

He tried to will the signal trace to work. They didn’t have much hope for anything else. 

“You’re the best..the best master I could have asked for..If I..I don’t make it out..will you take care of ‘soka for me?..”

The young Togruta couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. Obi-wan knew how it felt to listen to your Master say goodbye without being able to help. He was hoping neither of his Padawan’s ever had to feel that way. But now he was listening to the boy he raised struggle for air and say goodbye to the both of them. 

“You’ll take care of her yourself. You aren’t giving up on me, young one. You have to give me a few more gray hairs.”

A strained noise came from his end of the comm. Despite it they could hear his smile still. 

“Stop..It hurts to laugh..”

“Just stay with us Ani.”

Silence. They could hear the ragged breathing on the other end, but there was no laugh, no quick wit, not even another goodbye. Just silence. 

“Anakin?”

Still nothing. Ahsoka sucked in a sharp breath. Obi-wan felt like his heart was being ripped in half. But then Cody was moving and Rex was yelling out.

“We’ve got his location.”

They ran. Got to the gunship as fast as they physically could the comm line staying open the entire time. The only sound on the gunship was the sound of Anakin’s weakening breathing on the other end. They could hear every struggle, every hitch, every wheeze. 

The bounty hunters hadn’t thought they’d find them. In the end the group was no match for two angry and protective Clones and two worried protective Jedi. Quickly they moved together to pull Anakin from the grave that had been sealing his fate until this moment. Finding the hatch to the metal container Obi-wan made quick work of the lock and dropped in. His eyes narrowed in on Anakin’s body faster than the light hit him. His eyes were half open staring at the wall but when Obi-wan touched his shoulders they rose to meet him. A smile gracing his features once again.

“Knew...you’d find me…”

Obi-wan laughed. Tears springing unbidden into his eyes as he gathered his past apprentice into his arms and pulled him from the metal coffin. Ahsoka was right there to help support his weakened body while Obi-wan climbed out.

“Hey..Snips..”

Cody waved the medics over from the gunship while Rex finished knotting the binds around the bounty hunters. 

“Never scare me like that again.”

“Sure...Just let me breathe before we go. I forgot how good air tastes.”

“Gross.”

Obi-wan was kneeling next to him again, the three of them safe and together again. As it should be.


	10. Cookies For Santa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 22 year old Ani doesn't get a break either.

Rex suppressed another sigh as he sat down his datapad. It had been a long week for the 501st. And it was shaping up to just continue to get longer. He knew logically that it was because they were one of the best battalions out there. Their loyalty to their General and Commander only rivaled by that of the 212th and 104th and even then. There were lines the 501st was willing to cross that they were not. But even then they needed a break. General Skywalker was already working nonstop to try to help the men. 

Rex would have thought it was funny if he wasn’t so worried for his Jedi. The man would insist Commander Tano eat and drink and rest enough for her to be fully safe and healthy but he would neglect his own needs all the same. He was a living contradiction and yet he ensured the safety of all of the men as best he could. Rex had seen his General pull insane stunts left and right just in the effort to protect them all.

Even now. His Jedi was working himself so that the men could have a little downtime in the chaos that was the front lines of the war. It had been event after event for a while now and while Rex was thankful for the miniature respite negotiations were not exactly his idea of relaxation. They had set up a camp about three clicks away from the seperatist base. Troopers were milling to and fro but Rex couldn’t allow himself to relax. Not when his Jedi was negotiating with the villagers right under the enemy’s noses. 

Skywalker had said he’d go alone. That clone armor would attract too much unwanted protection. He’d taken his cloak and he’d left. Commander Tano stayed behind to watch all the men in the General’s absence. Both of them stood ready at the comms table. Just in case he called them to say something was wrong or with any sort of news really. Neither one of them liked the idea of not being able to protect him. It didn’t matter that they both knew he could take care of himself just fine, both he and the Commander were protective of their reckless hero with no fear. 

“He should be back by now.”

Rex lifted his head to look at his young Commander. She had grown since he first met her but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still a kid. He knew technically she was older than he was, but clones had been bred for war. She wasn’t. She was trained for peace, not for being a soldier. It wasn’t fair to have the young ones involved in this. He’d seen so much violence at this point he wondered some nights how he hadn’t fallen apart. And then he remembered that there were shiny Jedi fighting out there. For their own lives and the lives of everyone in the Republic. 

“He’ll be here soon. The General never was very good about staying on the clock.”

That at least got him a laugh out of her. 

“Still, I’m worried about him.”

He’d heard before from General Kenobi that there were bonds between Masters and their Padawans. Something that would allow them to sense the other no matter what. He focused all of his attention onto her. The downturned lips the worried eyes. Something was up.

“Can’t you sense him through your bond?”

She stiffened for a moment.

“I can. I know he’s alive. But something just feels wrong and I don’t want to distract him by reaching out.”

Rex nodded. He wasn’t going to pretend to understand all the things his Jedi could do but he trusted his Commander. If she said something was wrong then something was likely wrong. It was the same unconditional trust he and all the other men gave to their General. There was a reason the 501st was the talk of the training rooms on Kamino.

“Do you think we should go after him?”

Her expression brightened at that but quickly dimmed again. 

“No. He gave us strict orders to stay and watch over the camp in case something went wrong. I’m worried about him but I won't abandon the men. We just need to hope he comms if there is a problem.”

“With the General’s luck he’s probably  _ being  _ the problem.”

It earned him another laugh from her. He smiled in return but he needed to focus. If something had happened to his Jedi then he needed the men ready to move and protect him. It was one of the leading differences between the 501st and the 212th. The 501st was more than willing to disobey orders when it came to their Jedi’s safety. If any order prevented them from helping him they would willingly ignore it. They had a duty to follow instructions, but unless there was a damn good reason to not help their Jedi they were going. Rex wasn’t sure there was any good reason to not help when one of their Jettise needed them. 

He was just about to start rounding up men just in case when he saw the dark colored robes heading towards him. Immediately his eyes were scanning over his Jedi even while Anakin lifted a hand in greeting. Rex just frowned. The General seemed fine, but if he was fine then what was the Commander’s bad feeling for? He glanced over to her seeing her scanning his body as well before brightening. Guess he passed her inspection.

“Took you long enough.”

“Glad you’re back Sir.”

Anakin chuckled at their greetings and looks. 

“Have you two really been waiting here the entire time?”

“We wanted to be prepared. Just in case.”

“Yeah? Well I’m fine so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Rex narrowed his eyes at the words. It was a well known fact to the entire Grand Army that a Jedi’s version of fine and a medic’s version of fine were two drastically different things. Many troopers wanted blood from the person who taught them that their lives mattered less than anyone else's. They would call it selflessness, but not one soldier believed it. They were fully prepared to die for others, no questions asked. They understood selflessness, but they also understood the value of their own lives. They understood when to seek medical attention and when to rest. The Jedi would hide wounds, they would move on from things that needed treatment in favor of working. Of course the best examples of this were General Skywalker and General Kenobi. Rex had lost count of the amount of times Kix and Helix have dragged the Jedi back to medbay against their will. 

Anakin caught the look but didn’t say anything. Instead he worked on answering Ahsoka’s questions while scanning over the updates they’d gotten while he was away. 

“What happened over there? You were gone longer than just talking for possible allies.”

“They wanted me to meet with their council. But that had been taken over by Seperatist leadership since their village is so close to the Compound. I asked if I could talk to just their leadership and that took a while to gather under the radar.”

Both of them listened closely. Both because it was important for their task here and because he could reveal any conflicts that he may have been injured during. No, neither of them believed him when he said he was fine. Something told Rex that the Commander’s feeling wasn’t for nothing and judging by her stance she knew it too. He may have passed their previous inspections but that didn’t mean he was off the hook. 

“Then they wanted to talk over a meal and I couldn’t refuse without being rude. And right now we can’t afford that. If their warriors attack us from the sides while the Separatists come at us from the front we’ll be overrun. We talked, they agreed to revolt if the Separatists forced them into combat, and then I came back here. Nothing to worry about.”

While the story sounded good and there was no sign of combat on him Rex still wasn’t convinced. Ahsoka kept her eyes on Anakin’s both of them making minute facial expressions in the way that let Rex know they were talking through the bond. He was just about to excuse himself when Anakin did it for him.

“Get some rest. Both of you. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

“Make sure you get rest too Sir. We need you out there.”

At his General’s nod Rex left. Something wasn’t sitting right with him though. He couldn’t put a name to it but something seemed off. He’d managed to attempt to sleep for around an hour before he gave up. The feeling that something was wrong just wouldn’t go away so he decided checking over the plans again would be a good way to ease his energy. 

He made his way back to the comms table not in the least bit surprised to find his General still there. Rex had never met anyone more paranoid about keeping everyone safe than his Jedi. It wasn’t until he was getting closer that he noticed the death grip he had on the lip of the table, or the way he seemed to be shaking like he was holding back a fit of coughs. 

“Sir?”

He jumped. Now Rex knew for certain something was wrong. No one ever snuck up on the General, it just wasn’t possible. He watched the man clear his throat before speaking.

“Rex, what are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep, wanted to check plans. I thought the Commander told you to rest too?”

“Couldn’t.”

Before Rex could ask him what was wrong his Jedi broke into a harsh coughing fit. One that left him doubled over. Without hesitating Rex moved to his side to support him. He’d made it just in time too as his General’s legs gave out under him and he hit the ground the coughs coming even harsher before they cut off sharply in a choke. Anakin’s face was twisted in pain, sweat beading on his forehead as he vomited into the ground. One look at the crimson of the vomit and Rex was calling a medic. Anakin just looked at it for a moment, his heavy breathing the only thing filling the silence between them.

“Think it was the food, could have been Seppie leaders after all.  _ Kriff _ .”

Rex had to suppress a sigh. Only his General would get poisoned while trying to help others. Kix was already on his way to the scene but Rex couldn’t help but think of what General Kenobi’s expression will be when he hears of the whole ordeal. One of these days Rex was just going to put General Kenobi on speedial. 


	11. Frosty The Snowman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The year Revenge of the Sith would take place. 23 years old.

They had to run. It wasn’t really much of a choice. There weren’t very many other options when everyone around them started shooting and there were enough blaster bolts to rival the brightness of a sun. It had been meant to be a diplomatic negotiation between this planet and the Republic. It was meant to be a reprieve from the front lines of the war. But as all things involving The Team it ended in nothing short of chaos.

Obi-wan and Anakin were sprinting through the blizzard with the guards hot on their heels. The wind was lashing at their faces turning their skin pink. Neither one of them was really dressed for this kind of weather. They had their cloaks but none of their heavy winter gear they would typically have for snowing missions like this. They had thought they’d be inside the palace for the duration of their stay and as such hadn’t packed it. Foolish.

Anakin laughed despite the shouts coming from behind them.

“Well, guess it was a good thing I came late!”

“Just focus on running!”

They had been meant to be at a meeting right now to finalize the treaty. Obi-wan had been at the meeting waiting for his counterpart but Anakin of course had said he wanted to explore and was now late. As always. The delegates before him were looking more and more restless and angry and Obi-wan had done his best to ease the tensions. He wasn’t the famed Negotiator for nothing after all. 

His former padawan still had yet to show up when the head of state stood from his chair. 

“Master Jedi, we grow tired of waiting.”

“I understand, and I do apologize for my former padawan’s tardiness but-”

“But nothing. I had intended to take care of both of you at the same time but I suppose handling you one at a time will have to do.”

Obi-wan slowly rose out of his seat, he didn’t like the implications of that tone and wording. There was a hint of a threat leaking through the Force and it had him sitting on edge. 

“I assure you-”

There was a sharp tug from the force, part of him wanted to watch the guards quick movement but the other part of him was drawn to the nova of a force presence barging in through the door. Anakin’s arrival distracted the shooter enough that the blaster shot missed its target of Obi-wan’s heart. Their escape started after that.

Until now it led them here. Running for their lives in a blizzard outside the palace hoping that Cody and Rex would notice they both failed to check in with them in a few hours. Their comms wouldn’t get any signal out here, not in this storm. It had been hard enough to gain a secure connection when they were in the palace walls with the proper technology. Now? Out on the run with snow whipping at their bodies from every angle, there was no way for the small pieces of tech to reach the cruisers sitting just above the atmosphere waiting for their Jedi’s returns. 

They ran in relative silence after that. The sounds of their aggressors chasing after them never leaving their earshot for long. They spent so long listening to the sounds of the chase that the crack beneath their feet sounded nearly deafening. Both of them spared a look down to see what the damage was finding a web of cracks spreading out larger and larger. There wasn’t enough time. If they took one more step the lake they had unknowingly run onto would shatter. The sounds of the chase were coming closer to them once again and the team spared one look to each other before the decision was made. Obi-wan had half a second to process the look in his old padawan’s eyes. To understand the decision Anakin had come to before he felt the force slam into like a wall and his body be flung backwards towards the shore. 

The snow was sharp against his skin and yet Obi-wan couldn’t care less about that when he heard the soul sucking splash from the lake behind him. He didn’t have time to worry about the sounds of their chasers coming closer. He needed to find Anakin. The temple had made sure to teach all of them about the dangers that they could possibly face in their lives. Many of the planets in the galaxy were snow covered winter planets and therefore they had learned countless lessons on hypothermia and what it could do to someone. Falling in a frozen lake in the middle of a blizzard was nothing good and if he didn’t find his former padawan soon he may never find him. 

Before, he and Anakin had been thankful for the fact that it was dark outside. The shadows allowing them to use their skills more freely and increase the distance largely. But now as he scrambled carefully but quickly over to the hole in the lake he was cursing it. There wasn’t enough light, he couldn’t see him. The fact that Anakin hadn’t swam back to the surface yet was another thought nudging at the back of his mind. He didn’t want to risk lighting his saber for the light. If any of their pursuers saw it it would draw them over and Obi-wan could not afford the distraction at the moment. 

Instead he focused on his bond, focused on the force and the light that he had come to associate with Anakin. Pure and strong and protective. A supernova of light against the dark backdrop of the Force. But it was dimming. Muting as if his presence itself was being frozen over by ice. It didn’t stop him. Obi-wan focused on the light, focused on the boy he had raised because Anakin was, wasn’t he? Still a boy? He would always be that little boy in Obi-wan’s eyes. No matter what. He would always protect him even though he knew Anakin could protect himself. 

With one hand hovering over the ice cold water he latched onto the force and he pulled. His concentration broke the second ice soaked fabric touched his palm. He was just about to grab a hold of it but the water was pulling him back under. Obi-wan swore. Reached into the freezing water and grabbed a fistful of the back of Anakin’s robes. Dragging his soaked body to the surface was easier said than done, especially with the ice still cracking under their weight. Carefully he dragged his former padawan to safety on the bank he’d been thrown onto just minutes earlier. 

Pressing two shaking fingers into the side of Anakin’s throat Obi-wan searched for a pulse. He hadn’t come all this way with Anakin just for him to die now. It wasn’t allowed. And then he felt it. The beat under his fingers and he moved his hand ignoring the way it shook.  _ It was just the cold,  _ he told himself. Nothing but the cold. He moved his hand to rest just below Anakin’s nose and he waited. And waited. And waited before he came to a horrible conclusion. 

Anakin wasn’t breathing. 

_ No. _

It wasn’t allowed. Their chasers didn’t seem to matter so much anymore as his mind tunneled in on the one thing that would always matter. Anakin. He laid him out flat on the snow trying to ignore the way his skin felt like it was part of the ice he’d just been pulled from. He checked him over quickly for any other wounds and placed his hands over his chest. Setting himself up to perform CPR on the one person he never ever wanted to lose. 

Just as he was about to press down however, Anakin breathed in. Immediately he began choking but Obi-wan got him onto his side fast enough. Rolling him so that he could cough out the water that had filled his lungs and rubbed his back while Anakin dry heaved into the snow. Obi-wan took the time to look around, it seemed their pursuers had gone in another direction. They must have assumed the Jedi would avoid the lake or thought they’d drowned already if they did go that way. Almost. But thankfully not true. 

He waited for Anakin to get his breathing back under control before adjusting him so he was leaning against his chest. Obi-wan pulled on his cloak so that it covered Anakin as well in a vain attempt to share body heat. They couldn’t move now, stuck in place until either the guards found them or their men did. Obi-wan was content to just listen to Anakin breathe until a hoarse voice caught his attention speaking around his shivers. 

“I forgot it was Fete Week.”

Obi-wan huffed out a laugh at that, brushing his nearly numb hand through Anakin’s wet hair. Ice was starting to form there. He had to hope the men would notice their absence soon. 

“Yes, this year does continue the tradition doesn’t it.”

Anakin made a noncommittal hum in the back of his throat, leaning closer to Obi-wan. His body nearly went limp against his chest until he gave his former apprentice a quick squeeze.

“Stay awake. I already almost lost you today. I don’t want to do it again.”

A small nod was all he got but it would have to do. Both of them tried to hold onto consciousness, they really did. Trying their best to keep the other one going but when both of them ceased shivering sleep was just all too enticing. 

The next thing Anakin was aware of he was being placed on a stretcher and lifted into the air. Everything sounded distant at first until Kix’s voice finally registered in his muddled brain.

“We have you Sir. We’re getting you back to the Resolute now.”

It took him a moment to figure out how to get his mouth to respond to his commands but once he did his question was already tumbling from his lips.

“Where’s..Where’s Obi-wan?..”

“General Kenobi is fine. He’s a little better than you because he wasn’t soaking wet but you both need medbay.”

The medic huffed when he saw the look in his General’s eyes. 

“He’ll be alright. I’ll put you two together so you don’t mess up any of my work. Want to tell me what happened?”

“It’s Fete Week.” He said it like it was something to be proud of. Like almost dying once a year was a normal thing. “He saved me.”

Kix nodded, hiding his irritation with the Jedi’s standards of safety. Whoever taught the General’s how to look after themselves had another thing coming if Kix ever got his hands on them. 

“We’ve got it from here Sir. Sleep. Your body needs the rest.”

Anakin didn’t need to be told twice. He closed his eyes and relaxed. Obi-wan was safe. He pushed him in time. They were alright.


	12. Comfort & Joy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of explaining for this chapter. This story is part of the same AU that I am writing my story Scream from. You don't need to read it to understand but if you think Anakin deserved better go give it a read!   
> Here we have a 24 year old who finally gets a Fete Week he needed.

Anakin remembered the times when he was a padawan. He remembered them more often than he was willing to admit. But there was always one memory that stuck out to him in his mind. Everytime he thought of it it brought a smile to his face. Every year he would remind his old master about it and every year Obi-wan would roll his eyes at him and laugh. 

He stood now, 24 years old, one year after everything happened. One year after Sidious had attempted to break him apart and kill the Jedi Order with him. One year since the fight and his confession to the council. One year since his beautiful children had been born and he became a father of two and husband to one. One year since Senator Organa became the chancellor and Palpatine became the official leader of the Separatists. 

Every Fete Week had seemed to bring along some sort of pain with it. Some sort of experience that would haunt anyone else but he’d turned them into little stories. Small things to tease his old Master about. He’d make jokes about what kind of horrible thing was going to happen to them every year. Even going so far as to place bets with Rex about what kind of scar he was going to get. The most notable of all the years of course being the brand of the Jedi Order resting above his heart. The bacta had done a wonderful job on it, fading and healing it so that it was like a white ink tattoo on his chest rather than a reminder of one of his many kidnappings. 

It was a quiet night. For once he was on Coruscant for the holiday. And he wasn’t in the Halls of Healing either, no he was home. Home with his wife and his kids. Nothing bad had happened the whole week but that didn’t stop Anakin from worrying. He was so used to it by this point. Every Fete Week having its own kind of trauma attached to it. The different times he almost froze to death, the time a cult kidnapped them and tried to make him into a God. Every year was something new. Even Coruscant wasn’t safe. It wasn’t just away missions that things happened to them. The time he was captured out of the temple garden or the time he was kidnapped off the streets and nearly suffocated. 

He’d been laying awake thinking about all of it. Thinking about what he would do if he managed to pass his bad luck streak onto his children. What he would do if anyone ever touched them the way he was grabbed the other years. Suddenly Obi-wan’s vehement protectiveness over him during the holiday’s made much more sense. He’d always thought it was because he didn’t want to have to go through the effort of saving him yet again on yet another year. But the protective flare that rose from him at the thought of Luke or Leia being tied down or freezing slowly in the cold alone made him want to burn the world. 

He must have been projecting too because the sound of his babies crying in the other room pulled him away from his thoughts. Padme woke up from her place next to him, both of them looking at each other before getting out of bed and heading to the room across the hall. Luke and Leia both laid in their cribs crying and reaching out for their parents. Most babies would be sleeping through the night at this age but they were a bit of a special case. Anakin remembered his mom telling him he hadn’t started sleeping through the night until long after other kids his age. It made sense though, the Force could be just as cruel as it was kind. 

Padme walked over to Luke and scooped him into her arms bouncing him lightly and rocking him on her hip. Anakin smiled at the scene for just a moment before moving over to gently scoop Leia into his own arms. He cooed softly at her, wiping the tears away from her chubby cheeks. Already she looked so much like her mother. He heard Padme sigh as she walked over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

“I’m going to tell him a story to see if that calms him down if you want to do the same?”

He nodded, already moving carefully out of the room and through the apartment out to the balcony. Luke always preferred being rocked in the chair while Leia liked to see the stars. The moment he stepped outside she quieted down and started out at all the twinkling lights around them. It was cold but she was still in her warm pajamas and even then she didn’t seem to be cold, huddling close to her father’s chest and watching everything she could see. 

Anakin laughed a little at his daughter’s antics. He’d always told Padme their child was going to be a girl. He’d sensed her without ever sensing her brother. He loved them both equally, but Leia was already turning out to be a daddy’s girl. Anakin kept her safe in his arms swaying gently from side to side and pointing out different lights to her. Be it stars shimmering through Coruscant’s pollution or lights from speeders as people made their way to some place for the holiday arriving with the sun. He showed her everything he could. 

He sat on one of the chairs against the wall making sure to keep Leia tucked close and warm in his arms. He started to tell her stories.

“Once upon a time, Daddy was on a planet filled with nothing but sand. All I had back then was my mom, your grandma.”

Leia smiled at the name reaching up for Anakin’s fingers which he dutifully allowed her to grab. 

“She was amazing. We didn’t have much back then, just what we needed to live and what we could find. But every Fete week she would get me something. We would spend the day celebrating in all the time we weren’t working. And then one day, a man came, and told me about the Jedi.”

He went through the rest of the story, the whole way until he made it to the temple when he realized that his princess had fallen asleep again in his arms. He smiled as he brushed her hair back and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. 

He gazed back out into the sea of lights that was Coruscant. Watched the lights of buildings flicker on and off as people woke up and went back to sleep. Watched the speeders all traveling in different directions as people made their way home. 

In another life he would be standing her alone. Staring out at the seas of lights and feel nothing but a soul sucking emptiness. In another life he would never have heard his daughter’s laughter. He would instead have been trapped with the grating wheeze of a respirator echoing in his ears. He thought about it sometimes. The hallucination he’d had from that drug all those years ago. What that monster would have done. Would he have even cared to come back here? To look at the life he could have had? He was locked in that death suit, nothing but pain and hatred and sorrow flowing through him and for what? What was the point? Anakin wondered about the other him. If Sidious had gotten what he wanted was that what he would have become? The monster who was alone and in pain with nothing but the shadow of love he lost to hold. 

But that wasn’t this life. This life was happy and warm and joyous. This life he stood on the balcony with his daughter in his arms. He would get to see both his children laughing and playing in the early sunlight. Come morning the apartment would be full of voices and people and lights of its own. There were going to be presents and food and celebration all around. 

For now though, it was quiet. Dark but peaceful. The lights shimmering from outside giving the living area a soft blue glow. As he stood to take his daughter back to bed his smile grew. With the birth of his children the curse that had seemed to follow him was broken. Maybe it was the Darkness leaving along with the Sith or maybe it was the two bundles of light that were now sleeping again in their cribs. He wasn’t sure, he wasn’t sure he would ever know. But for the first time in 12 years he was going to enjoy his Fete Week with his family at his side. 

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas Eve Everyone!!! I will see you tomorrow with the other six chapters!


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